In each Random Bird Thursday (RBT) episode, the goal is to highlight a bird species that probably isn't going to get featured in a full-length podcast episode. These are birds we might overlook, even though they certainly deserve some appreciation and attention.

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⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!

The featured species in this episode is the Lesser Antillean Tanager (Stilpnia cuculata).

Sound Citations:

Jesse Fagan, XC42716. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/42716.

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👕 Bird Merch — Get yourself some bird shirts!

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Episode 139 of The Science of Birds takes listeners into prehistory to meet the Terror Birds: giant, flightless predators of the family Phorusrhacidae. Standing as tall as 10 feet, with axe-like beaks and sickle-clawed feet, these birds ruled South America for tens of millions of years after the dinosaurs disappeared.

Host Ivan Phillipsen explores how an isolated continent, some of empty ecological niches, and the amazing process of evolution gave rise to these fearsome hunters. Along the way, the episode looks at how they lived, how they hunted, and how they ranged from “terrifying” to surprisingly small.

Links of Interest

• Terror Bird scene - Life on Our Planet [VIDEO]
• The Time Terror Birds Invaded - EONS [VIDEO]
• Terror Birds: The Giant Birds With Guillotine Beaks [VIDEO]
• When Giant Terror Birds Were Apex Predators [VIDEO]

Support the show

In each Random Bird Thursday (RBT) episode, the goal is to highlight a bird species that probably isn't going to get featured in a full-length podcast episode. These are birds we might overlook, even though they certainly deserve some appreciation and attention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!

The featured species in this episode is the Himalayan Prinia (Prinia crinigera).

Sound Citations:

Rajeev Lochan, XC797143. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/797143.

Support the show